Paul Gascoigne, the former England star who recently resigned as player-coach of fourth-tier Boston United, is attempting to bury his troubled past by changing his first name and refusing to answer by his famous nickname, ''Gazza.''
He told the Sunday Times of London, ''If people call us Gazza, I won't respond. I don't want to be rude, but Gazza's gone and that's the end of it. … Aye. Paul's not right for us because it's too closely linked with Gazza. I need a new first name. I want to separate from the past.''
The player formerly known as Paul Gascoigne, who was capped 57 times for England, hurt his career through drunken antics, spousal abuse and a propensity for making crude insults.